Former Bobcat Love lands Nice contract

JJ Love started his professional volleyball career on a short-lived high.

The former Brandon University Bobcat joined Iraklis Thessalonikis and helped them start the season 3-0 in Greece’s top league. But three losses and a quick coaching change later, he was cut.

Love returned to Brandon before Christmas, dejected but not defeated. He kept working and has landed another deal, this time with Nice Volley-Ball of France’s Ligue A, the top tier in the country.

“Super excited. I think it will be a great opportunity,” Love said. “It’s one of the top teams in the French league, which is a very talented league. They have a really good coach and beautiful city, so it’s all you can really ask for in a contract.”

Love certainly learned a lot over the past few years. After leading the Bobcats through their unforgettable U Sports national championship run in March 2025, he left his fifth year of eligibility on the table and chased the pro dream.

He worked through the process of finding an agent and signing, then debuted in Europe.

It didn’t take long for him to understand the pressure imports like German middle blocker Philipp Lauter felt when they join university programs. They’re expected to deliver as student-athletes, so it’s only reasonable to raise the bar for pros a club brings across the world.

“It’s what you can do for me now. It doesn’t matter your past success; it doesn’t matter if you were good in the past, bad in the past, it’s what you can do right now. Maybe right in that moment, I wasn’t the exact fit they wanted,” Love said.

“It gave me two options — think the overseas life isn’t for me or keep working and trust it will all work out. I think it is taking care of itself now. Hard work is paying off slowly, which is awesome to see.”

The six-foot-seven setter came back and trained with BU coach Grant Wilson and the team’s setters, while working hard in the weight room.

He cracked the 30-man roster for Canada’s senior national team, and will head to the Pan American Cup in Mexico next week.

With the A-team focused on the NORCECA Continental Championship in Moncton, N.B., in September, Love and some of the next men up will play in the NORCECA Final Six later this month.

For Love, the best part of this summer has been learning from coaches Dave Preston and Adam Schriemer. One of his big takeaways is something contrary to what setters learn growing up — that it’s important to communicate often with hitters about ball placement.

“At the level we’re trying to play at, you don’t have time for that conversation,” Love said. “There’s a lot more going on in the game. If I give you a bad ball, a good ball, you’ve got to do your best to score as an attacker.”

Once the NORCECA Final Six wraps up, Love will head to Nice and look to help a team that finished eighth out of 14 at 11-15, then lost in the first round of the playoffs in 2025-26.

He feels more prepared for his second contract. Love has been cut a few times and doubted a few more, but isn’t concerning himself with anyone who doesn’t believe in him.

“It’s not proving people wrong, it’s proving people in your circle right for believing in you, your passion and your drive,” Love said.

“It’s believing in yourself and having your support group to get you through those hard times.”

» tfriesen@brandonsun.com